Golf Flow

that many of the most vital lessons that enable golfers to improve are lessons that they learn during times of adversity and bad golf. This second theme is not meant to be an inspirational homily, or to make golfers feel better about their bad golf; it is a fact, and spending a lifetime close to the game has taught me to appreciate how true it is. The bottom line is that, in the game of golf, if you learn the right lessons and correct the flaws effectively, then you will improve.
    Beginning in late 2008 and rolling into 2009, Stuart’s explicit goal was to become more mentally free as a golfer. A decade of great results had gotten him too attached to those results, and as a result he was tightening up a bit. A decade of world rankings had gotten him hypersensitive to those rankings. He had moved in a direction more toward outcomes and out of his processes.
    Just as people can recognize the need to work out without taking steps toward their goal, golfers sometimes recognize the need to change their mind-sets, but they don’t necessarily know exactly how to do it. Just as people sometimes need personal trainers to get them into the gym doing the right exercises, golfers often need some help developing strategies and staying on the path toward their goals. Stuart needed some guidance in understanding his situation and in turning it around.
    As with other golfers, my first priority with Stuart was to determine why he played and to examine the essence of his golf psychology. Was it mastery or ego? In other words, did he play for passion or for accolades, two qualitatively different types of motivation that yield different psychological, and ultimately, performance patterns.

Perils of Success
    Recall the decline in the marathon times that McDougall wrote about in
Born to Run
, a decline that he attributed to the introduction of extrinsic rewards like money and contracts into the sport of running. Like those runners, golfers who’ve worked hard to achieve great success can be distracted and put off course by that success. The process often begins in high school with uniforms and free golf balls; expands in college with scholarships, bags, and the prestige and perks that come with being a student–athlete; and becomes full blown on the PGA Tour where the perks include equipment, money, cars, and sponsorships. That is not to say that money was the reason behind Stuart’s poor performance in 2009. Many golfers, during the course of their careers, become overattached to outcomes. They expect to perform at a certain level, and for 10 years Stuart was able to generate good outcomes without too much difficulty.
    In pro golf, winning represents something larger than simple greenbacks. It represents the type of expectation that can afflict any golfer who has been on a good run. Good results tend to raise the expectation of more good runs. Although high expectations can be a good thing at times, the expectations that accompany a string of successes can also often lead a person to develop a sense of entitlement. In other words, because they have been able to show up and win golf tournaments, on some level they come to believe that showing up is all they have to do to win. Golf, alas, is too demanding a game for that.
    I’ve said it before in these pages, and any golfer who has ever spent time with me has undoubtedly heard me say it more than once: The game is giving you exactly the experience that you need to get better. I don’t mean that in a general or vague sense, the way that parents may tell a child that adversity builds character (although it frequently does). I mean it in a literal and precise way. The game of golf is always giving you exactly the experience that you need to improve.
    For example, if you are a golfer who consistently blocks your driver, the game is telling you that you need to figure out something to improve that part of your game. If you consistently miss pressure putts, then you need to figure out what is happening to improve that part of your game. If you are stuck in a prolonged slump, as unpleasant as it may be, then the game is giving you a clear message that you either have the wrong equipment or are doing something in your technical or mental game that is consistently bad. By delivering you sliced balls, missed putts, blocked drives, and poor scores, the game is saying, “You need to improve this or that particular thing.” The same is true when you are playing well. The game is giving you